Thanks man! I figure I'll end up trimming more, but I'll wait until I start building bumpers, find out where all that's going to land first. I'm going to spray the interior with a homemade "Lizard Skin" first, basically home latex paint and microspheres. Then if I can afford it, the 3M thinsulate is what I want to go with to insulate the walls more. Slowly but surely she's coming along!
The Lunchbox Build... 4x4 chevy shorty van
- Thread starter Lunchbox2
- Start date
Thanks man! I figure I'll end up trimming more, but I'll wait until I start building bumpers, find out where all that's going to land first. I'm going to spray the interior with a homemade "Lizard Skin" first, basically home latex paint and microspheres. Then if I can afford it, the 3M thinsulate is what I want to go with to insulate the walls more. Slowly but surely she's coming along!
Thanks for following! IT's been a journey that's for sure.... Holler if you have any questions, I'll answer if I can!
You got that right! Made all those sore nights/days worth it... :sombrero:
After putting another 40-50 miles on the van today, I've come to the conclusion that I need to add another leaf to the spring packs, both front and rear. I love how soft the ride is, but it's a little too much body roll to drive around every day. I gotta get used to that rear locker too (yukon grizzly), it definitely makes more noise than the powertraxx I used in my last 4x4. Stuff like that doesn't really bother me as long as it does what it needs to do when it's time.
I had an s10 with a 383 stroker, th350 with a 3000 stall, and 4.10's that I daily drove in high school. The loud exhaust and huge stall didn't bother me because when I stood on it, it put a smile on my face. I'll deal with a loud rear locker, and a hard-shifting transmission, if it means that **** always performs!
I had an s10 with a 383 stroker, th350 with a 3000 stall, and 4.10's that I daily drove in high school. The loud exhaust and huge stall didn't bother me because when I stood on it, it put a smile on my face. I'll deal with a loud rear locker, and a hard-shifting transmission, if it means that **** always performs!
I was thinking about your Lunchbox the other day, wondering how it was coming along.
I am so glad to see that you are driving it!
What you've done is truly noteworthy. Congratulations!!!
Thank you! It's such a feeling of accomplishment to build something from scratch with my own two hands, then get to enjoy it with my son. He has be DYING to drive it since I brought it to the house a few months ago. So yesterday was bittersweet... it made all the hard work worthwhile
Thanks man! I have a good buddy back up in wisconsin who just got done building an astro. He went 4" lift, swapped transfer case so he could have LO range, and put a locker in the rear. He wants to come down to kentucky and run the KAT with me, or at least a couple sections of it anyway. I told him I'll have a tow strap and a winch, so I can always give him a little tug if he needs it. I'm excited to see how it performs.
To coin a phrase...
YA DUN GUD, BUBBA!!!
My personal opinion...
As she sits, now...
The rubber you're rolling on, is the right size...
Larger than that, will be too big, unless you lift it, some more...
I would put on some sway bars...
Think rollin' down the highway, about 75, driving into the sun, and...
Deer and Elk avoidance out West!!!!:Wow1:
YA DUN GUD, BUBBA!!!
My personal opinion...
As she sits, now...
The rubber you're rolling on, is the right size...
Larger than that, will be too big, unless you lift it, some more...
I would put on some sway bars...
Think rollin' down the highway, about 75, driving into the sun, and...
Deer and Elk avoidance out West!!!!:Wow1:
haha thanks man! I'm really hoping I can avoid sway bars by adding a leaf or two to the spring packs. Hopefully I can get that done early next week. I've been driving the crap out of this thing though, and I have to say, all the components work together perfectly. It's geared just right for that tire size, so it pulls itself around very well. Cruising in overdrive at 75 is a one-handed operation. So I don't think I want to change anything, just get the suspension dialed in and we'll be good!
Corneilius
Adventurer
x2 on sway bar up front. It will still ride like a cadillac and drastically reduce the body roll. To get your springs stiff enough to reduce the body roll would make it ride like a deuce and a half
luthj
Engineer In Residence
Stiffening springs to reduce body roll on a tall vehicle will kill the ride, and may impact wheel articulation. You want an independent spring for roll (sway bar). Having the ability to disconnect it for off-road driving can be useful to get maximum wheel articulation, and to prevent body rocking when traversing single wheel obstacles.
The springs are way too soft, like waaaaaay too soft. You have to remember that I'm using parts that were never intended for this application, so there's some "tuning" involved when building like this. My last 4x4 was a SAS explorer and it sat as high as this van, on coil springs, and didn't have a sway bar. The van is completely driveable the way it is, it just needs to be stiffened up a little bit. I think it'll be fine once I add a leaf or two....
Bikersmurf
Expedition Leader
I'd be putting on as front sway bar for street use...
That said, an extra longer leaf on the front and rear if you've got the parts would stiffen it up... and you could always pull them if they were too much of a compromise. From the looks of it, your fronts are only four leaves (didn't count the rears)... for comparison, my rears are 10 leaves (front coil) but it's a completely different beast at 6000 lbs on the rear. Flex and sway are both limited... but fine for street (or light trail) use.
That said, an extra longer leaf on the front and rear if you've got the parts would stiffen it up... and you could always pull them if they were too much of a compromise. From the looks of it, your fronts are only four leaves (didn't count the rears)... for comparison, my rears are 10 leaves (front coil) but it's a completely different beast at 6000 lbs on the rear. Flex and sway are both limited... but fine for street (or light trail) use.
The front pack only has 3 leaves and an overload, so it's a very light spring pack. Because I was dealing with unknowns when building this thing, I just figured I'd start with that one and if it wasn't enough I could add a leaf or two, no biggie.... nobody else has ever attempted to use these leaf springs under a G-van, so I had nothing to base off of. I absolutely will not run a sway bar though, too many cons to even consider it.